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Wednesday, September 4, 2013

Reasons I Don't Finish A Book

This is about how many books I have waiting to be read.

I will say my husband is a better person than I am because
he finishes every book he starts. I don’t. I read for pleasure, knowledge and
reviews. As for the reviews, I’ve been told not to read past the fifth chapter
because I might give the story away. If I enjoy the book, I still finish it. However,
a few things stop me cold.

Mechanics
can cripple a tale - I am not an editor. I need an editor to edit my work.
Still, when I see glaring errors even I can pick out, it makes for difficult
reading. It is almost as if the work has to be edited to make any sense.An
unlikable character is another reason - Philip Roth, a masterful writer, may be
able to make a pedophile into a sympathetic character. Trust me; most authors
do not have this skill. I declined to review a book that included a selfish
heroine who refused to have anything to do with her a father because he married
a woman she didn’t like. She even kept her grandson away from his grandfather.
When her father dies suddenly, she complains about how inconvenient it is and
how she looks bad in black.

Lack
of research - I once read a book that took place on an Indiana farm. The
author’s unfamiliarity with farming, the crops that grow in Indiana and the
general geography hurt her credibility with anyone from Indiana, or with a farming
background, or had the ability to use the Internet. Many people want to write
historical novels, but they don’t want to do the research. Historical readers
are great historians. They recognize a wrong item or even a word not right for
the period.

Believability
- Fantasy and science fiction get a pass on this. I understand fiction is
pretend, but some things only happen in comic books. A cougar novel had the
fifty-year-old former model heroine more beautiful and toned than her twenty
year old model employees. Whenever she walked into a room, men’s mouths fell
open. She was also a billionaire, owned most of the town and ran several
businesses. The poor woman couldn’t find an available man to date. Which part
do you find hard to believe?

Sameness
- I think people read novels by a particular author for some sameness. They’re
comfortable with reading the same thing over and over. However, when it is the
exact same plot line in the same place with different main characters, it’s
still the same novel.

Vulgarity
factor - I don’t think of myself as a prude. I used to be a beta reader for
several different types of erotica a few years back. While some of the books I
read were funny, far-fetched, or just plan goofy, they do not compare to what’s
out currently. Some writers have their characters tortured, kept hostage and
raped by several men. They liked to call it bondage. Yeah, right.

The
agenda peddlers - You don’t have to read more than a chapter into these books
to see what the agenda is. It could be pro-gun or anti-gun. It might be
anti-meat penned by a vegan. Everyone has opinions. That’s fine, but an opinion
is not a story arc.

The
story doesn’t go anywhere - I will freely admit to finishing these books
thinking they will get better. Sigh. The
best example I’ve seen is a mystery with twenty-two possible murderers. After
persevering through 500 plus pages, the detective announces he can’t figure it
out.

Too
little conflict - Everyone is wonderful in the story and there are no problems.
What is the plot line again?

Too
much conflict - Some writers, hearing that conflict drives the story, manage to
pile on endless twists, from unknown brothers to counteragents. After about the
thirtieth conflict is introduced, I realize I no longer care.Great
beginnings that melt into miserable middles - The book had so much promise, but
then it went nowhere. The first part of the book was the contest entry, which
explains why it was better than the rest.

No
explanation - This tends to happen more in fantasy or science fiction, where
the writer uses language or terms that hasn’t been explained to the reader. He created
the word so he knows what it means. The rest of us, however, might like a clue.

All
in all, there really aren’t that many books I don’t finish. I really hate it
when I read an entire series only to have a sucky ending. I persevered through
six books for that ending. When do you
stop reading?

4 comments:

Great topic, Morgan, and a great list.I stop if I encounter bad formatting in a e-book. Insufficient self-editing is another death knell--poor punctuation heralds poor story arc, IMO.I read the first six chapters. If I am not hooked, I don't go on.